Apples and other similar fruits are grown all over the world and every apple grower has the same concern—reducing the apples that are bruised before sale. In most cases, after apples are picked they are sent to a packing factory where they are washed (and sometimes waxed), sorted according to size, and then deposited in storage bins. Sorting is automated. Apples may be evaluated for color, sugar content, size, or some combination thereof while moving through a series of conveyors. The sorted apples are loaded into an appropriate storage bin.
Apples that are sold for eating or baking have shiny skin, are firm, and are free of bruises. Not only is bruising unappealing to the eye but it can also become a source of bacterial growth. Apples that are bruised are sold for processed products such as juice. Bruised apples are sold for up to several hundred dollars per ton less than apples sold for eating or baking.
Most apples are bruised when they moved from a supply conveyor to large bins for storage. This bruising usually occurs when the apple lands into a storage bin at high velocities, when apples collide with each other, and when apples collide with machinery.
Efforts have been made to reduce bruising when apples are moved from a supply conveyor belt into storage bins. For example, Fruit Handling Systems, www.fruithandling.co.nz, and Durand Wayland, www.durand-wayland.com, produce rotating head bin fillers. Since both systems are comparable, they are referred to, individually and in combination, as the fill apparatus. As can be seen in FIG. 1, the fill apparatus (10) accepts fruit from the supply (or sorting) conveyor (20) into the fill conveyor (11). The fill conveyor (11) moves the apples to a rotating arm (12). The purpose of the rotating arm (12) is to decrease the velocity of apples as they move from the sorting conveyor (20) into a storage bin (30). The rotating arm (12) is separated into segments by a plurality of steel rods. Each steel rod is dressed with a small chute which delivers the fruit from the rotating arm to the storage bin (30). The chutes also lower the velocity of the fruit as it moves from a higher level, the supply conveyor (20), to a lower level, a storage bin, preventing fruit from colliding with the storage bin or other fruit. The fill apparatus (10) also has a single sensing device indicating when a storage bin (30) is full.
The fill apparatus (10) has multiple drawbacks. If fruit is loaded unevenly onto the fill conveyor (11), it will be loaded unevenly into the storage bins. As a consequence, the fruit will fall from a higher location, in the storage bin, to a lower location causing fruit collision and bruising. Additionally, if the storage bin (30) is loaded unevenly, the sensor may stop the filling process prematurely reducing fill efficiency. If fruit has not achieved a sufficiently low velocity after leaving the chute (14), the fruit may also collide into the edge of the storage bin (30) causing the fruit to bruise.